Impeachment Hearings

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The first court hearing for President Park Geun-hye's impeachment is slated for January 3. The attorneys representing the president and the National Assembly are expected to stage a heated debate over the reasons of impeachment. Let’s find out more.

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The first court hearing for President Park Geun-hye's impeachment case will be held at the Constitutional Court on January 3, 2017 at 2 p.m. The court will wrap up all preparations for the hearing on December 30 and will hold the second hearing shortly after the first one to speed up the process. The president's attorneys and the National Assembly have clashed over fact reference applications. President Park's attorneys have requested fact references involving dozens of institutions and organizations, while the National Assembly immediately raised an objection.

[Soundbite] Lee Jung-hwan(Pres. Park's Attorney) : "We applied for fact references because we want the trial procedure to end as soon as possible."

[Soundbite] Lee Myung-woong(Attorney, Nat'l Assembly Impeachment Committee) : "Most of fact reference applications are about asking for opinions."

The Constitutional Court will decide on whether to accept or dismiss fact reference applications at the final preparatory hearing to be held two days later. The National Assembly impeachment committee has requested President Park to appear in the courtroom personally to testify, but her attorneys said that Park would not attend court hearings.